Naivety zone
According to the research “Russian Federation: the end of the gambling market?” the Russians play “spontaneously” in gambling halls not far from their homes (80-85 % of the market in the country fall within this figure) where they seldom pass more than several hours. To attract players for longer term, the zones should become year-round resorts with all infrastructure – from hotels up to the regular flights of discounter airlines. It is also necessary “to facilitate the process of obtaining visas for foreigners.”
The climate can become a big handicap, the authors continue. In Macao the annual average temperature is 20 degrees above zero. Clive Tilley, the founder of Tilley Entertainment, considers the zone in the south to be “the most viable” from the climatic point of view. But, he continues, the Russians choose the beach rest in other places.
The cost of creation of a gambling zone in different countries on the average amounts to $16-30 billion, notes Gambling Compliance. During 2002-2006, according to Gambling Compliance estimate, apart from the investments in gambling parlors, $1.23 billion is invested in Russia. According to Oleg Buzunov, General Director of the state managing company Azov-City Krasnodar Directorate, the Administration has allocated 500 million rubles for creation of infrastructure of the first Krasnodar part of the zone. In the beginning of July, Vladimir Bartenyev, Minister of Economic Affairs of Rostov Region, declared that the region will allocate 3 billion rubles for infrastructure.
“Investments into gambling zones cannot be justified from the point of view of mid-range income forecasts,” the authors of research summarize. “It is naïve to assume that zones will be fully functional within a year, and, probably, by July 1, 2009 there will be no legally working casinos and gambling machines in Russia,” they continue. Gambling games will move to the black market, it will grow together with corruption, and its “proximity to people`s homes” will keep people from going to a far away gambling zone while rich Russians will play abroad.
Source: Vedomosti